THE PHATAGIN. 739 



root. The cry of this creature is low and plaintive, and is thought to 

 resemble the sound Ai. The head is short and round, the eyes sunk in 

 the head, and nose large and moist. 



GENUS ARCTOPITHECUS. 



The eight species of this genus have three toes on the fore-limbs, and 

 the males have a colored patch on the backs. They extend from Costa 

 Rica to Brazil and Eastern Bolivia. 



The Spotted Sloth, Arctopithccus ftaccidus, differs from the other 

 Sloths only by possessing a curious black spot on the back which looks 

 like a hole in the trunk of a tree, and is found only in the males. The fur 

 of most of the sloths has a greenish tinge very like that of the "vegetable 

 horsehair" which clothes many of the trees in Central America, and this 

 probably conceals them from their enemies, the harpy-eagles. 



THE SCALY ANT-EATERS. 



The family Manidid^e or Scaly Ant-eaters are the only Edentata 

 found out of America. They extend in Africa to the West Coast and 

 the Cape, and in Asia from the Himalayas to Ceylon, Borneo, and Java, 

 as well as to South China. 



GENUS MANIS. 



The solitary genus comprises eight species. In all, the upper part of 

 the body is covered with large flat scales of horn, which overlap each 

 other like the plates in a fir-cone, and which resemble the scales of a fish 

 more than anything else. The body and tail are long, the head small, 

 the legs short, the claws long and fit for digging. The horny scales do 

 not occur on the under-side of the body ; they are sharp at the edges, 

 and uncommonly hard. Between these scales are a few thin hairs. 

 The snout has no scales, but is protected by a horny skin. 



The Phatagin or Long-tailed Manis, Manis longicaudatus (Plate 

 LXI), is a native of West Africa. The body is two feet, the tail three 

 feet in length. When attacked, it rolls itself up into a ball. The negroes 

 kill it with clubs, sell its hide to Europeans, and eat the flesh, which is 

 white and tender. The tongue of the Phatagin is long, and is either in- 

 serted into the holes of the ants on which it lives, or laid across their path. 



